36 hole Speedhub in production?

It claims Rohloff will begin producing a 36-hole Speedhub, which should be available in October. A quick search and I couldn't come up with any other sites to corroborate this info, including UNTERNEHMEN: www.rohloff.de.

My 32-hole Speedhubs have definitely proven reliable on my tandem and cargo bike, but I see this as a welcome addition to the product line.

I honestly don't think it needed 36 as they hold up to pretty extreme tandem loads, but it sounds like electric motors finally made it a necessity. But with only 2 additional spokes per side, I'm guessing they completely redesigned the hub shell & the number of bolts holding it together -- not like that 48 spoke conversion that simply drills extra holes in the 32 hole flange.

I wonder if, just like Rohloff stopped making a tandem specific version of the hub and instead began drilling all the spoke holes oversized in all versions of their hubs, they'll do away with the 32 hole version altogether and sell just the 36 hole version. Four extra spokes isn't going to crush anyone's dream of a lightweight Speedhub setup.

Yeah, the 32 hole Rohloff is more than sturdy enough for almost all sane applications, but if true, this will make the 36er guys happy since those Nimbus wheels do not come in 32 hole. Matt, this post is for you!

Yeah, the 32 hole Rohloff is more than sturdy enough for almost all sane applications, but if true, this will make the 36er guys happy since those Nimbus wheels do not come in 32 hole. Matt, this post is for you!

More like 36er guy. Won't see too many Rohloff'd 36ers out there...

I think I'd still take a PW regardless, especially if they'll color match my front hub Although a huge polished silver hub would look sweet - I recently ordered a Ti HBC spirdeless chainring as a "rain dance" maneuver.

In all seriousness (and this is mainly speculation), I'm pretty suspicious of Rohloff on this one. Seems very odd to me that all these years go by without a 36 hole option, then PW says they're bringing a shell to production in the next few months (they've been saying its a week from production since February) with just about whatever number of holes you want drilled (24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 48). Rohloff then tries to halt PW from doing so (reading between the lines after months of calling PW and asking around), is eventually unsuccesful, but oh wait!, all this time we've been redoing our tooling to produce our own shell about the same time PW will finally gets theirs out to the public. Thanks PW for showing your prototype to the world

Will be interesting to see if PW will still bring theirs out, may be a large enough market of people wanting non 36 hole drillings and/or the bling factor.

Originally Posted by Speedub.Nate

Alex Nutt of MTB Tandems checked in with his sources and confirmed this; says they're coming 1st of 2012.

I would imagine the shell would be available separately and existing guts can be transferred, should the need arise.

Good luck purchasing a shell at all from Rohloff. From what I've been told firsthand you can only get a shell when yours has been damaged to the point it is unsafe (broken flanges, etc). I believe the thought is too keep people from taking their $800 ebay Rohloff, putting a brand new $200 shell on it and passing it off as new to the unsuspecting customer, which makes sense. Although a hammer creates a pretty good loophole on that one...

As far as I understood it... the European boom in electric supported bicycles has led rohloff to bring out the 36 spoke versions. I think it had something to do with bike manufacturer costs being less for 36 spoke rims due to quantity and these manufacturers putting the pressure rohloff.

I also heard a rumour that many cyclists were reverting to extra thick spokes due to their fear of only having 32 spoke holes. If I were rohloff, I would 'kill two birds' as it were and offer the 36 spoke versions to increase customer trust and reduce the number of flange failures through thick spoke use.

I don't think they're having a lot of flange failures now... in fact I've never heard of one. Not that I think they don't exist, but I would guess this is very uncommon and I doubt they would be adding spokes to address it. People think of Rohloffs as indestructible already. If more bike builders are using 36 hole wheels on the other hand, adding the option might make sense.

"More like 36er guy. Won't see too many Rohloff'd 36ers out there..."
----mbeardsl

I love my 36er
and I love my rohlloff hub on the cargo bike.
And would like have the two in one bike however.

I see the problem would be gearing under ratio as per der book of rolloff to get to mt bike gear inch range.

How much under ratio are people getting away with?

I run my 29er under the warrantied range at 36x16=2.25 at 220lbs. I will run my 36er WELL under at 32x16=2.0. That will still give me a decent top end and should keep me mostly above 8. Gear 5 is also decent in terms of efficiency so this ratio coincides with what I have been running SS for the last year. No way to get usable range within warrantied ratio, but both of my Rohloffs are second hand so not warrantied anyway. I have heard of a dozen or so people running close to 2.10-2.15 without issue for years.

If you do any damage it will only be to the nylon "rollers" that are supposedly very cheap and easy to replace. Apparently Rohloff engineered it this way so as to not damage anything important by over torquing, and I don't think I'll ever have enough power to compare with what Rohloff claims they warranty for (2 elite cyclists in sync on a tandem). It would be interesting to hear what actual torque amount they calculated to compare with some power data I have.

I break spokes on my Rohloff regularly. I rebuilt my back wheel a few months ago for a new bike - DT Champion spokes and a Salsa Gordo 26 rim. I've done about 5000 km since then, 3000 of which were loaded touring. I recently broke a spoke on the disc-brake side, at the nipple. I broke spokes in the same place when I had the Rohloff in my Fargo. I am going to rebuild with Sapim Force triple butted spokes. I'd love a 36 hole Rohloff though, not only because it'd be a stronger wheel, but because I'd be able to lace it up to a Kris Holm rim.

So now I have to decide whether to get a second Rohloff or get the Phil Wood shell. Or both.

If your breaking spokes ta the rim, its probably the rim at fault. Are your spokes bent where they join the nipple? 26" rims are small and the IHGs like Nuvinci or Rohloff have huge flanges making teh spoke angle too flat - which causes teh bend when the spoke tries to join the nipple. Some rims are drilled at angles to avoid this problem or get a rim which has no eyelets before rebuilding the wheel or it may all be a waste of time.

36 spokes will not change the angles and your problem will probably not be resolved.

I break spokes on my Rohloff regularly. I rebuilt my back wheel a few months ago for a new bike - DT Champion spokes and a Salsa Gordo 26 rim. I've done about 5000 km since then, 3000 of which were loaded touring. I recently broke a spoke on the disc-brake side, at the nipple. I broke spokes in the same place when I had the Rohloff in my Fargo. I am going to rebuild with Sapim Force triple butted spokes. I'd love a 36 hole Rohloff though, not only because it'd be a stronger wheel, but because I'd be able to lace it up to a Kris Holm rim.

So now I have to decide whether to get a second Rohloff or get the Phil Wood shell. Or both.

Just wanted to check if you laced it 2X. I've had mine for a while on a VXC 700c with 20/18spokes and no problems at all despite denting the rim constantly with rocks.

The nipple area seems to be a trouble spot for some people. Trying to get the nipples inline with the spokes seems to be best.

As far as gearing goes, I wanted 60 g.i. with gear 11. I used 36/17 to get 61.4. This gives me 11 mph @ 60 rpm. 14.6 @ 80. 16.4 @ 90. This also gives a range of 17.1 / 90.1 g.i. which is perfect for my Pugsley. No problem whatsoever running this combination.

I suppose loading it up for touring would the the best way to stress the spokes. What kind of weight is it taking? Just curious...

190 pounds of me - average weight. 37 pound bicycle if you include the racks, fenders, etc. back panniers - 40 pounds. front panniers - 20 pounds. and 10 pounds in water bottles on the frame. 297 pounds in all. About 135 kg.

I ride hard though, and I brake hard. I had the rohloff in my Fargo (29er) before, and I broke spokes a few times on that. But every time I've broken them, on the Fargo, and on my current bike, it's always been at the nipple, and always on the disc brake side of the back wheel. I think spokes are breaking because of the disc brakes, my heavy load, and the way I brake.

It could also be how the broken spokes were cut to length & threaded, assuming they aren't factory length but are being cut "Speedhub short" by a shop with a inferior threading machine.

Truth be told, I've only **read** of the difference between rolled vs. cut threads (cut being weaker due to the material reduction creating a weak point at the nipple), but every threading machine I've come to use in the field (like, three maybe?) roll the threads. My assumption is it would be difficult to find a threading machine that cuts threads. But still, it's something to consider...

It could also be how the broken spokes were cut to length & threaded, assuming they aren't factory length but are being cut "Speedhub short" by a shop with a inferior threading machine.

Truth be told, I've only **read** of the difference between rolled vs. cut threads (cut being weaker due to the material reduction creating a weak point at the nipple), but every threading machine I've come to use in the field (like, three maybe?) roll the threads. My assumption is it would be difficult to find a threading machine that cuts threads. But still, it's something to consider...

It was a Phil Wood Spoke Cutting and Threading machine; the threads are rolled.

I hate to go into these inane little absurdities of bicycle engineering (that probably don't make one bit of a difference) but... will the 36h hub still be limited to a 2 cross lacing. Wouldn't a 32h 3cross wheel be stronger than a 36h 2cross? Just wondering...

I hate to go into these inane little absurdities of bicycle engineering (that probably don't make one bit of a difference) but... will the 36h hub still be limited to a 2 cross lacing. Wouldn't a 32h 3cross wheel be stronger than a 36h 2cross? Just wondering...

You can do 3 cross in 36h, and yes I believe generally the more crosses you have the stronger the wheel up to the poiny where spokes cross 90 deg leaving the flange. I'd think the extra 4 spokes may be a wash with the lost strength in your question though.